Tonopah Test Range Air Monitoring. CY2014 Meteorological, Radiological, and Airborne Particulate Observations
- Desert Research Inst. (DRI), Las Vegas, NV (United States)
In 1963, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) (formerly the Atomic Energy Commission [AEC]), implemented Operation Roller Coaster on the Tonopah Test Range (TTR) and an adjacent area of the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) (formerly the Nellis Air Force Range). This test resulted in radionuclide-contaminated soils at Clean Slate I, II, and III. This report documents observations made during ongoing monitoring of radiological, meteorological, and dust conditions at stations installed adjacent to Clean Slate I and Clean Slate III and at the TTR Range Operations Control center. The primary objective of the monitoring effort is to determine if winds blowing across the Clean Slate sites are transporting particles of radionuclide-contaminated soils beyond both the physical and administrative boundaries of the sites. Results for the calendar year (CY) 2014 monitoring are: (1) the gross alpha and gross beta values from the monitoring stations are approximately equivalent to the highest values observed during the CY2014 reporting at the surrounding Community Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP) stations; (2) only naturally occurring radionuclides were identified in the gamma spectral analyses; (3) the ambient gamma radiation measurements indicate that the average annual gamma exposure is similar at all three monitoring stations and periodic intervals of increased gamma values appear to be associated with storm fronts passing through the area; and (4) the concentrations of both resuspended dust and saltated sand particles generally increase with increasing wind speed. Differences in the observed dust concentrations are likely the result of differences in the soil characteristics immediately adjacent to the monitoring stations. Neither the resuspended particulate radiological analyses nor the ambient gamma radiation measurements suggest wind transport of radionuclide-contaminated soils.
- Research Organization:
- Nevada University, Reno, NV (United States). Desert Research Institute
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- NA0000939
- OSTI ID:
- 1224706
- Report Number(s):
- 45263; DOE/NV/0000939-26
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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